Thus we lived amid the raging elements, shut up in a
storm-tossed coffin which we knew might go to pieces at any moment.
At length, on the third day, Hartog ventured to open one of the
hatches, when a rush of cool air came to us as we lay gasping below,
bringing with it new life and vigour. The hurricane had passed, and
although the wind and sea still ran high, we were told we might come on
deck. But the happiness we felt at being released from our dreadful
imprisonment was checked when we saw the havoc which had been wrought
by the wind and the waves upon our ship. The decks were swept clean,
the masts gone by the board, the larboard bulwarks stove in, while the
cook's galley had disappeared.
CHAPTER XLV
SUMATRA
All hands now set to work to cut away the wreckage of our masts and
rigging, which, as the ship rolled in the trough of the sea, threatened
to stave in the hull as the spars dashed against it with each recoil.
Had it not been that the "Golden Seahorse" was a new ship, upon which
no expense had been spared in the building, we must have foundered. But
it was amid such scenes of storm and stress that the indomitable spirit
of Dirk Hartog asserted itself, and seemed to animate both officers and
crew with something of his own courage and determination.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264